I am a firm believer of what James Kunstler observes and comments on, and his latest article here is something that is quite evident to me regularly. To see the way most young Americans present themselves is to see a generation that is without direction, somewhat mindless, and crying out for help. I see it everyday in my (soon to end) work. Virtually all the coworkers at the factory fit the description of what Kunstler describes in his article. The younger ones under age 35 or so are walking creep shows with the ever present facial hair, often shaved heads or unusual haircuts, tattoos all over their bodies, harsh jewelry in strange places (noses, ears, eyelids, lips, and who knows where else -- I have heard places that are outright incredible and disgusting), fervant smokers, eager alcoholics, tshirts with profanity and obscenity, and an ever present look of anger and hostility towards the world. Profanity is included in virtually every sentence and in every conversation. Anger and hostility both overtly and subvertly is always present. Misguided and dangerous sexual conquests and ventures are the sole meaning of their warped existences. I would imagine many of these individuals have one or more sexual diseases that may become inevitably fatal for some at a point. Some boastfully crow about having a prison record and having been "in the joint". A more ragamuffin and hideous group of people I cannot imagine and certainly have never worked with or among. Most have a history of serious substance abuse and this job is the only thing that keeps them from returning to that life. Alcohol abuse is a common topic of conversation that I overhear. But at least they are working and making a living. But they clearly fit the description Kunstler presents in his article.-
Throw in the seemingly eternal rural and Wyoming value of being a slob always and the picture is not pretty. The slovenliness of all worsens as the age goes up. Women and men both let themeselves go becoming obscenely obese and without any pride. I am guilty of that to an extent at times, but I am not even in the same time zone of the individuals I have described. The despair, the empty look in the eyes, the meaninglessness, the lack of purposefulness, the emptyness -- I see it everyday in these individuals. And they demonstrate the futility and the end of any promise for the future like all other Americans are doing these days -- in ways that seem strange to someone like me with my background and experience, but perfectly natural and conforming to those in their peer groups.
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It will be my injured hands and wrists that will force me to leave my current work someday soon, but I will also be glad not to have to be among such outwardly unacceptable individuals and misfits on a regular basis. One needs to fit in and belong to the group they work with; clearly I do not.
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